Posted
by
samzenpus
on Wednesday November 10, 2010 @04:08PM
from the language-pitfall dept.

eldavojohn writes "Nintendo has requested a trademark on the phrase 'It's on like Donkey Kong.' The phrase has been used in everything from rap to television in modern culture. From the article: 'The makers of the classic video-game franchise have filed a request with the US Patent and Trademark office to trademark the pop-culture phrase, "It's on like Donkey Kong." Nintendo claims that the catchphrase "is an old, popular Nintendo phrase that has a number of possible interpretations depending on how it's used."'"

Did Nintendo themselves ever actually use the phrase? I thought it was just a pop culture reference kinda thing, never a part of the actual franchise. >_>
I call shenanigans.

TFA says they're using it now to promote the new donkey kong country, but it seems like they're taking a phrase that the public created that is in the public domain and are trying to claim it as theirs.

They're applying for a trademark rather than a patent so prior use is a little different here. I'm sure someone with greater knowledge of US trademark law will enlighten us, but I seem to recall that it is possible to trademark something that's been used (e.g., "Linux" was trademarked by Linus Torvalds back in the 1990s after someone else was using it for their business and he wanted it to be a protected phrase - this is AFAIR so I could be wrong).

If "On like Donkey Kong" was a phrase used to market a game that consumers though was the Nintendo property, there might be a case here. That is the only test that is used to determine whether a phrase or symbol infringes a trademark.

Corporations who frivolously try to grab intellectual "property" like this should have to pay the government fees for using up taxpayer funded resources.

IANAL, but I think you are mistaken on a technicality. You may be correct insofar as registering a trademark, but to defend it in court against infringers is different. In court, Nintendo would have to show that it has zealously defended its trademark, and if the phrase is well-established in the wild then that test is likely to fail. I would assume that they are registering in order to exterminate unauthorized use with the hope that cease-and-desist letters will be enough, and nobody with deep pockets and an itch to fight will stand up to them.